Chapter 23: Discovery

Since Feng Yan Di was coming to the Su family to attend the wedding banquet, of all the imperial relatives and high-ranking officials in Yun Du, who would dare not follow?

From super-grade princes to eighth-grade county lieutenants, they lined up with heavy gifts, begging for nothing more than a single seat.

The rewards from the Huang Gong were also sent into the Su Zhai like water.

The Cui Fu across the street was also as bustling as if they were holding a wedding themselves.

The Su family were merchants, and these noble relatives and powerful families did not know much about them. But the Cui Fu was in the same circle as them; they saw each other every time they looked up, so they were extremely familiar. Early in the morning, the noble ladies sent over by their husbands busily caught Lady Cui to inquire.

Lady Cui smiled until her face was almost stiff. Fortunately, she had a fairly good relationship with Su Niangzi across the way and understood her quite well. And today, she understood the Su family even better, and she had to tell everyone she met—though they were merchants, they were a clean and respectable family.

"Many thanks, Lady Cui, you have truly saved me. I suddenly had a dizzy spell from the anxiety, and the world was spinning so much I was about to pass out. Fortunately, you have good tea here, or I might not have survived." Bai Shi, the wife of the Minister of Revenue, held a cup of emerald-green tea; the warm, soft, and rich herbal fragrance upon entering her mouth made her feel refreshed and clear-headed after a moment, and it was actually more effective than the medicine from the Imperial Hospital.

Lady Cui smiled and said, "This was sent over by Su Niangzi, made by Su Dagu-niang herself, using only spiritual herbs found in the Southern Dao Sect."

"Su Dagu-niang... is she the one the Emperor met?" Bai Shi took another sip of tea. The Southern Dao Sect was a place of immortals, so this tea was naturally immortal tea; every extra sip was a gain.

Lady Cui nodded, "She is a very beautiful girl, with spiritual energy and charm throughout her entire being, elegant in spirit and bone; she is truly different from the dullness we were taught."

"That is inevitable; those raised by immortals are bound to be different from the common sort." Without having met her, Bai Shi was already full of favor for Su Xi through this cup of tea.

Unlike the bustle on the Su family's side, the Xue Fu was in dead silence.

Xue Fuyi's expression was extremely ugly; this was the second time! Her cultivation aptitude had been lost for no reason. The first time it was her Heavenly Grade Water Spiritual Root, and this time it was her Phoenix Bone Charm Body!

She was about to advance.

And as long as she entered the Nascent Soul Stage, she could possess Su Xi! The personal disciple of Rong Shou and the Young Sect Master of the Southern Dao Sect would all be hers!

And this filthy Dao Body—she had long since had enough of it!

She never expected that at such a critical moment, the Phoenix Bone Charm Body would be gone!

She could not suppress the anger radiating from her entire body.

Beside her, Lady Xue only felt as uncomfortable as if the blood in her body were flowing in reverse, her face deathly pale.

Xue Mengying hurried over, and seeing Lady Xue's state, she busily took her out first to recover.

"Mother, what is wrong with my sister?"

"I don't know. We were just talking about having your sister go to the Su family, and she suddenly became like this."

"Go to the Su family for what?" As soon as she heard it had to do with Su Xi, Xue Mengying's temper flared.

"It's your father; he insisted that I go to offer congratulations to the Su family, but I won't go. So I called your sister over; her relationship with Su Xi is passable. But now your sister might not be able to go either, so why don't you go?" Lady Xue looked at Xue Mengying.

Xue Mengying wanted to refuse; to her, the Su family was a place of bad luck, and she would certainly not go if she could avoid it.

"The Emperor is also going to drink the wedding wine." Lady Xue pinched Xue Mengying, hinting to her, "To this day, the Emperor has no empress or concubines."

She had seen it clearly: after Xue Fuyi became a disciple of the immortals, she was focused entirely on cultivation and looked down upon this chaotic mortal world; the Xue Fu could likely not count on her to restore its former glory.

Xue Mengying was different; she preferred the prosperity of this Yun Du.

Xue Mengying also understood Lady Xue's meaning, "But, my sister won't let me..."

"You don't have to listen to her in everything. Besides, your father and I are old, and with your brother in this state, this massive Xue Fu needs a backbone that can hold it up." Lady Xue patted her hand.

Xue Mengying's eyes grew brighter and brighter, "I understand, Mother."

Inside the room, Xue Fuyi sneered and then returned to her indifferent appearance. She was now near the Great Perfection of the Golden Core Stage and had excellent hearing; their secret conversation naturally fell into her ears without a single word missed.

Just as Lady Xue guessed, she indeed no longer cared about the Xue Fu.

There are no years in the Dao, and one's lifespan is even longer. But ordinary people only have a few short decades of life; perhaps after a single closed-door cultivation, the world has already changed dynasties and times have shifted.

Therefore, she would not waste her time on these useless people and matters.

She had to hurry and enter the Nascent Soul Stage to possess Su Xi's Dao Body!

"First bow to Heaven and Earth—"

Following the chanting, the pair of newlyweds knelt and kowtowed.

"Second bow to the Emperor—"

The newlyweds bowed again.

Zhou Chuchen had not yet married himself, so he sat on the dragon throne feeling quite awkward. Liu Bi, the Chief Steward who served him, immediately presented a congratulatory gift, a white Jade Ruyi, "Congratulations to you both, a beautiful union, a match made in heaven."

"Thank you for the Emperor's grace, long live the Emperor, long live, long live." Su Zhangqing and the bride bowed again in unison.

"Rise," Zhou Chuchen nodded.

"Third bow to the parents—" the chanting rose again.

Su Fu and Su Mu were smiling from ear to ear.

Su Xi gave them each a Storage Bag, "You must love and cherish each other, be sweet and affectionate, be of one heart as husband and wife, and grow old together. Finally, give me a nephew or niece to hold soon."

Su Zhangqing's face turned beet red, "Thank you, sister."

"Thank you, sister-in-law," the bride's voice was extremely shy.

"Enter the bridal chamber—"

A crowd of people surrounded the groom and bride and headed toward the wedding chamber.

Su Xi also wanted to follow, but was called back by Su Mu, "Xi-niur, the Emperor is still here."

Su Xi looked at Zhou Chuchen and, seeing his handsome eyes filled with a smile, said, "Your Majesty, please wait a moment; I will go join the fun and then come back to drink with you."

"No matter," Zhou Chuchen replied.

Su Fu walked up, trembling nervously, "Your Majesty, the banquet has been prepared in Yayuan, please!"

"Good." Zhou Chuchen followed Su Fu toward Yayuan.

Inside Yayuan, a crowd of nobles and aristocrats kept him company.

Cui Heng said to Su Fu, "I am here, you go outside and greet the guests."

"That is a huge help! Thank you, Commander Cui." Su Fu wiped the sweat from his forehead; he had lived half his life and never thought he would experience such a scene.

"What are you saying," Cui Heng laughed, "Neighbors are better than relatives; we are all family."

Su Xi held a thick stack of red envelopes in her hand, looked at the friends and family gathered at the door of the bridal chamber, and shouted, "Distributing wedding envelopes—"

Immediately, everyone surged toward her.

Although Su Zhai was large, it could not hold so many people, and because Feng Yan Di had come, there were especially many male guests. Therefore, the female guests were arranged to be hosted at Cui Fu.

Xue Mengying sat at a table with several noblewomen she knew, but because she had been away from Yun Du for a long time, their relationships were rather distant.

After saying only a few words, they fell silent because their topics of conversation did not align.

Under the hint of her mother, Yu Baishuang, daughter of the Minister of Revenue, drank several cups of spirit tea in succession, and her whole body felt warm; her ailment of having cold hands and feet seemed to have vanished.

She suddenly understood her mother's intention; this tea today was certainly extraordinary, otherwise why would those noble ladies and young misses all be vying to order tea, ignoring even the imperial delicacies?

This wedding banquet was more like a tea party.

In the blink of an eye, Yu Baishuang saw that the tea in front of Xue Mengying had not been touched at all, and the steam was about to dissipate, so she could not help but say regretfully, "Xue Si Xiaojie, won't you taste this tea?"